.All you have to do is START!

Are you waiting for the perfect diet? Are you waiting for Monday? Are you waiting for a day and diet that might never come?

That’s pretty common, and we’ve all been there.

In our book, Man on Top – Lose Fat, Get Fit, and Control your Weight for Life, we have a whole section at the front called The Kickstart. It addresses this problem by getting the reader started with simple, clear, and non-threatening steps, all while allowing them to continue reading the book in their own sweet time.

…and it’s the same, here. This ‘kickstart’ is so simple that there’s simply no reason NOT to start.

 

Kickstart your diet

My goal today is to give you clear, quick, and simple steps to kickstart your diet. You can wait until Monday to start, or start right now, but you will have to start.

 

Step One: Journal

Yes, a journal is the same as a food log. You don’t have to count calories, and you don’t have to change your diet. Just write down whatever you eat. Everything. Somewhere.

Recording your food makes you aware of what you eat, and many people start to lose weight from this step alone.

 

Step Two: Take fish oil

Many dieters have found that the mere addition of 3-5 grams of fish oil each day kick starts their fat loss. Fish oil is also prescribed to help with motivation and energy, to reduce inflammation throughout the body, and for a healthier heart, making fish oil almost seems too good to be true.

Fish oil is available in most drug stores and online, in capsule or liquid form. I prefer capsules, while my wife prefers the liquids. Either is fine, just take it. I have links to recommended brands in our Amazon Store (TheFitInk.com/amazon-store), but in the meantime, I recommend you start with a bottle from Costco or the drug store while you wait for your online order to show up.

Be sure to check with your doctor if you take any medication or have any conditions that might be affected by fish oil, which can have a blood thinning effect in some people.

 

Step Three: Walk

Walking is overlooked when it comes to weight loss, but those who keep up their steps lose more weight, and keep it off. Aim for about 10,000 steps a day, but just start. It’s not about the calories burned, it’s about activity. People who walk more, stay slimmer than those who don’t, and when they do the math to see how the calories add up, they never do. There’s something metabolic going on, here, folks.

Just walk.

A pedometer is a cheap and easy way to see how well you’re doing, but an electronic gadget like a Fitbit or Jawbone Up is even better!

Whatever you do, don’t wait until you have a gadget to walk, just walk. Walk to the store to buy a pedometer, even.

 

Step Four: Eat your veggies

Make sure to add vegetables to every meal. Most of us don’t eat enough veggies.

Veggies fill you up and keep you full longer. They also take longer to eat than many other foods, so there is more time for your brain to realize that you’re no longer hungry, and signal you to stop eating.A helpful tip: Start your meal with your veggies, raw or cooked, and then eat the rest of your food.

 

Ok so far?

Feeling good about all this, I hope.

Simple steps, so far. No math, no ‘don’t eat this,’ no starvation diets…

• Journal
• Fish oil
• Walk
• Veggies

At this point, take a week and just concentrate on steps one through four, then come back and follow Step Five.

 

Step Five: Pick the low hanging fruit

Remember that journal from Step One? Read it and then pick the ‘low hanging fruit’ out of your diet.

What is ‘low hanging fruit?’

Low hanging fruit, noun
1 – the fruit that grows low on a tree and is therefore easy to reach
2 –a course of action that can be undertaken quickly and easily as part of a wider range of changes or solutions to a problem: first pick the low hanging fruit

We’ll look at the second definition, since it’s unlikely that #1 is going to be a problem unless you live in a peach orchard…

Go back through each day of your journal, and circle the items that are big in calories and/or low in satisfaction. See what you can drop or change for big calorie savings, whether it’s snacks during an afternoon meeting or simply swapping out your 1,400 calorie lunch burrito for a 700 calorie burrito bowl.

 

Step Six: Pick out your next program

The perfect diet and exercise plan is beyond the scope of this article, but I hope I’ve given you plenty to think about and consider. Just this Kickstart should start you on your road to fitness, health, and fat loss, but I know you’ll want more at some point.

The Real Food Reset is our newest book on nutrition, health, and weight loss. It’s based on our popular and very successful program, The 30 Days of Real Food. The Real Food Reset is available on Amazon, in paperback and Kindle.

Man on Top is our flagship book, and was originally targeted at men, but it’s strangely loved by women, as well. Weird, but cool. Man on Top contains our dietary system rather than an ‘eat this, not that’ or ‘you must count calories’ diet. It includes a complete training program for working out at home or in the gym.

Of course, both Galya and I are available for consultation and custom programs, so just drop us a line by clicking HERE.

 

Simple

Small changes can mean big results if you’re committed. For some people, a few of these minimal steps are all that it takes to lose the weight they want. If you find that you need more, take another look at steps two through five; pick up the pace on your walks or borrow a dog that needs walking, make sure you’re eating enough veggies, and there’s almost always more low hanging fruit.

 

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